In Argentina, the government data center was attacked by a cryptographic virus

A data center storing Argentine government data came under attack by a ransomware virus thatencrypted the files and demanded a ransom in bitcoins to decrypt them.

According to the Minister of Science and Technology of Argentina, Alicia Banuelos (Alicia Bañuelos), 7.7 TB of data was encrypted, but at the moment, IT professionals were able to decrypt 90% of the files.

“The ransomware virus attack has encrypted Argentina’s government files that have been collected for 10 years. It took us 15 days to decrypt the files, ”said Banuelos.

The attack took place on November 25th. The amount of ransom requested by hackers is not reported, however, according to various sources, it could be from 5 to 50 bitcoins, which at the current exchange rate is from $ 37,000 to $ 370,000.

According to Europol,Ransomware viruses have become the most popular way for hackers to make money. Recently, the computer systems of the South African city of Johannesburg were attacked by a similar program. The hackers demanded that the city authorities transfer them 4 BTC, but the officials refused to do so.

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